johnson



UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. JOHNSON, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CYRUS J. WARD, OF SAME PLACE.

BINDING FOR BOOKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,562. dated November 30, 1886.

Application filed June 1886. Serial No. 204,452. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. JOHNSON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsV in Bindings for Books; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,

lo which form a part of this specification.

The object ot' this invention is to provide an improved construction in book'bindings; and it consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

The improvement herein described is more particularly intended and adapted for use in" connection with that class of bindings known as spring-back, or those employed for blank books, and in which the cover-back is curved 2o and comparatively rigid, and the leaves are flexibly united at the back of the book and adapted to separate from the cover-back when the book is opened, so that the exposed pages will lie approximately dat. I have herein illustrated my invention in connection with a spring-back binding in which the covers are connected with the coverback by the leather which covers the outer surface of said back, and with the dexibly-joined leaves composing 3o the strapped book by the straps or flaps thereof, which are secured beneath flaps or flies77 upon the covers in the usual manner. In the particular construction shown inthe drawings an additional sheet of cloth or other flexible 3 5 material is secured to the inner surface of the back and to the covers, in order to give greater strength to the hinged joints between the parts,

as will hereinafter fully appear.

In spri Iig-back bindings as heretofore usually 4o constructed the rear edges of the covers have been located at some distance from the edges of the coverback, so as to form flexible strips 0r sections between the covers and back, which sections are usually made of greater width than the thickness ofthe board composing the cover, so that the latter may open freely. In the improved construction herein illustrated the back edges of the lids or covers are placed close to the adjacent edges of the cover-back 5o and the adjacent marginal portions of the back,

and the covers are tapered or beveled to thin edges at their meeting line, the covers being beveled upon both sides of the slit or incision by which the flies are formed, so that no abrupt shoulders or edges are present at the inner margins of the covers, and the latter may be opened freely by the bending of the flexible material uniting them. One important advantage of this construction is that by its use a binding may be made in which the strapped 6o book, the lids, and cover-back are all closely united with each other, so that the binding is made very strong and durable, while at the same time the leaves are caused to open more flat than heretofore, as will hereinafter fully appear.

I have herein shown my invention' as applied to aspring-back book; but the same principles of construction may be employed in bindings of other kinds-such, for instance, as are used 7o for printed books. n

The invention may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a springback book, havingparts of the binding broken away to more clearly show the construction thereof. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the book shown in Fig. l, taken upon a plane parallel with its end. i

As shown in the said drawings, A is the strapped book.

B is the cover-back, herein shown as made of tar-board.

C C are lids or covers,l and D is the outer covering of the binding.

The book A is provided, as shown in the drawings, with the usual straps, A', having projecting ends for attaching the book to the covers, and with a sheet, A2, of cloth orleather 9o or other flexible material, glued to the connected back edges of the sheets and extended at the sides of the back to form flaps, which, together with the end portions of the straps A', are inserted and glued between the main 95 parts of the lids C C and the flies C', to fasten the book in the covers. The cover-back B is secured to the covers C C by the covering D, which extends over and is pasted to the back and covers in the usual manner.

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The particular binding herein shown is provided with an additional sheet, E, of flexible material, which is pasted rupon the inner face of the back D, and the marginal portions or flaps of which are secured in the covers C C, beneath the flies G thereof, together with the straps A and the sheet A2, thereby giving a stronger connection between `the back and' covers than would otherwise be obtained.

The covers orlids C C are beveled or tapered upon their outer surfaces at their marginal parts adjacent to the cover-back, as shown at c c, and are also similarly beveled upon their opposite inner faces, as indicated at c c, the

ltaper or bevel both upon the inner and outer surfaces of the coverV being extended to lthe slit or opening by which the flies Care formed, so that the said ilies and the edges of the main partsY of the cover are both brought to thin ,or acute edges. The back B is also tapered or beveled at its margins, so as to form sharp or thin edges, as indicated at b, the 'beveling of the back being usually accomplished by cutting.

v opened freely in the usual manner, notwithstanding thelshortnes's of the flexible joint or linged connection between the lids and the A principal advantage of the construction describedv is that the binding is thereby made much stronger, owing to the fact that y the strapped book, the lids, and the cover-back are all closely united with each other, so that the several parts are held firmly in their-relative positions, and lliability of rupture of the strappings and detachment of the book-body from the lids by roughI handling is avoided, while the requisite flexibility in the joints is at .the same time secured.

One important advantage derived from bevcling the back and covers in the manner above stated is that when the book is opened to expose the leaves adjacent to the lids said leaves will lie more nearly-flat than when a construction is employed in which the covers are provided with thick inner edges, it beingentirely obvious that in a binding constructed as proposed by me the leaves adjacent to the open lid will-at such time be bent over the comparatively slight elevation formed by the doubling of the relatively thin material connecting the lid and back, instead of over the thick inner edge of the lid; or, in other words, when one of the lids is opened or thrown back the inner surface of said lid will be only slightly raised above the exposed surface of the body of the book, so that the leaves adjacent to the cover will lie approximately dat. The-close connection between the lids and back obtained by the construction herein shown,^furthermore, obviously operates to hold the lids-close to the back, and to thereby enable the exposed leaves adjacent to the lids to be opened more flat than would otherwise be possible. Y

In bindings other than those known as spring-back7 bindings-such, for instance, as are used for printed books-the binding is usual ly connectedwith the lids by j oints formed at the outer surface of the lids, the folded and connected back edges of the leaves being 4expanded or spread by hammering, backing, or blocking, so that thewleaves will properly open or bend over the edge of the` covers in opening the book. l

The construction herein shown, and above described, may obviously be applied to bindings of the kind last above referred to, any backing or hammering outwardly of the folded parts of the leaves at the back of the book ob- ,viously, in such case, being unnecessary, by reason of the absence of any abrupt edges or shoulders at the inner margins of the covers.

-I have herein shown the flies C' as located at the inner surfaces of the covers and formed by leaving the thicknesses or layers of board composing the covers unconnected at their inner parts, in the usual manner. As far as the features of construction embodying my invention are concerned, however, the fiy may be formed by separating the layers of board forming the cover at a point midway of the thickness of said lid, or even nearer the outer than the inner surface of the lid, according to the thickness or stiffness of the'material used or other circumstances-as, for instance, in a very thick lid the fly may be formed either at the inner or outer face of the lid by means of a board or layer of proper thickness to be easily bent or lifted for the application of paste or glue and the insertion of the straps beneath it, while in the case of a thinner lid the boards or layers composing the latter may be -separated midway of the thickness of the lid, whereby two flaps of equal thickness are formed, which may be bent outwardly,or away from each other, for the insertion of the straps.

The improved results obtained by the employment of the covers or lids beveled to thin edges and connected with the back, as described, obviously exist as well when the lids and back are connected in the usual manner by means of the covering D alone as when the sheet E isalso used; and my invention, therefore, is not restricted to the construction in which said sheet is present. An important advantage is gained, however, by the employment of said sheet E, inasmuch as better and 'stronger joints between the back and lids,beveled as described, are thereby formed, and a construction embracing said sheet E is therefore made the subject of a specific claim herein.

It is obvious, furthermore, that in the construction of a book in which the lids are bev- .eled or tapered in the manner described the se p IOO

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means than by the use of the straps herein shown as applied for this purpose.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, with the strapped body 5 of a book, of a cover-back having thin edges, andlids or covers flexibly joined to the back, in close proximity thereto, and united with the body by straps or other flexible connections inserted and secured beneath flies upon 1o the lids, the said lidshaving acute edges adjacent to the cover-back, formed by beveling or tapering the marginal parts of the lids upon both sides of the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the strapped body of a book, of a cover-back having thin edges,

Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE POOLE, THOMAS J. SoLoN. 

